Ugandan Intelligence in Crisis: CIA and MI6 Demand Clarity as Besigye Allegations Spiral Out of Control

The Kamunye mighty investigative desk can exclusively report that the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Britain’s MI6 have taken keen interest in Dr. Kizza Besigye’s shocking allegations involving an alleged plan to assassinate President Yoweri Museveni and poison some of his top government officials.

The CIA, America’s powerful foreign intelligence arm, is tasked with collecting and analysing global intelligence to protect the United States and its allies. MI6, Britain’s equally formidable Secret Intelligence Service, gathers foreign intelligence and provides the UK government with discreet global operational capability aimed at shielding national security and economic interests.

According to highly placed security insiders, both agencies formally asked Ugandan intelligence to furnish them with the audio recordings allegedly extracted from Besigye’s phone—recordings in which he is said to have been speaking with arms dealers about obtaining weapons intended for killing Museveni and his close men. They also requested access to any related recordings or evidence.

Sources revealed that MI6 developed interest because the saga placed Britain at the centre of the controversy, given that the implicated arms dealer is a British national who allegedly leaked sensitive information to President Museveni—leading to the suspect’s kidnapping in Nairobi, Kenya. The CIA, meanwhile, stepped in as a security partner to Uganda, particularly since there were also claims that American citizens were entangled in the alleged deal.

While this website cannot confirm whether the Americans or British verified the authenticity of the audio files, sources say the president recently expressed deep anger at the operatives who handled the operation, complaining that numerous intelligence gaps embarrassed Uganda before international partners.

“The president is already cleaning the country’s intelligence circles especially at the Defence Intelligence and Security (DIS) because people have been using those offices to make money. You heard the changes recently. Even the DIS Director General was demoted,” a senior intelligence officer said.

Sources indicated that Besigye’s arrest may have been orchestrated by top security officials hoping to secure financial gains from the president. With the investigation now under scrutiny, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) may face difficulty relying on the contested audio recordings and other evidence pulled from Besigye and his political assistant Hajji Obed Lutale’s phones, especially since this evidence should have been scrutinized before the case was committed to the High Court.

“ We don’t know if when the trial starts, the presiding Judge will allow our application to use the evidence collected from the accused’s phones. The matter was supposed to be handled before their committal but we shall see when we reach that bridge,” a senior prosecutor in the office of the DPP said.

Sources further disclosed that statements by Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, following her husband’s alleged kidnapping also attracted international intelligence attention. Byanyima claimed that in the room where Besigye was allegedly plotting, there were Bazungu, yet they were never arrested or included in the case file. She stressed that this was clear evidence that her husband had been set up.

Veteran investigative journalist Andrew Mwenda maintains that if MI6 and the CIA conducted internal investigations, they likely unearthed the truth from the recordings and quietly advised their governments to avoid commenting—unlike in previous Besigye arrests when the U.S., Britain, and other European countries loudly condemned his treatment under the Museveni administration.

Mwenda argued that since American and British officials see National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) as the political figure capable of mounting a real challenge to President Museveni, they advised him to step back from defending Besigye—and he complied despite initially condemning the arrest. Mwenda boasted that he personally examined the audio recordings and found elements of truth, which is why he defended Besigye’s arrest and prosecution.

“Besigye and his lawyers miscalculated when they fought against him being tried in the Court Martial because if he was tried in the Court Martial, he was going to receive sympathy from the public. The public would think that he was being persecuted but in civilian courts, people will continue advising him to wait because he told them it is where he expects to get justice,” Mwenda said.

This website has learned that there are currently no witnesses prepared to testify regarding the disputed audios, while Besigye’s legal team—led by senior Kenyan lawyer Martha Karua—maintains the recordings are fabricated.

In a parallel development, Besigye’s lawyers have begun the process of petitioning High Court judge Justice Emmanuel Baguma to recuse himself from hearing the next bail application. Kampala Lord Mayor Ssalongo Erias Lukwago, also on Besigye’s legal team, said they have lost confidence in Justice Baguma. They accuse him of taking too long to handle the bail hearing and later dismissing it without satisfactory explanation.

He insists that Baguma is biased against Besigye and questioned how the judge could conclude that Besigye, kidnapped from Kenya in November 2024, was not entitled to mandatory bail along with his co-accused.

Besigye’s People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) deputy president for Buganda, Dr. Lulume Bayiga, warned that if the Judiciary ignores their complaint about Justice Baguma, they will mobilize supporters to storm Chief Justice Owiny Dollo’s office to plead for intervention.